Staff profile

Qualifications

• B.Sc. Hons University of Melbourne
• PhD Victoria University
• Graduate Certificate in Higher Education La Trobe University

Teaching areas

• BIO1AD - Animal Diversity, Ecology and Behaviour
• ZOO3EPB - Coastal Marine Ecology

Teaching awards

• I was awarded an Australian Learning and Teaching Council Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning in 2008 For engaging students in an exciting, well-structured learning environment and motivating them towards a deeper understanding of biology by modeling scientific enquiry. I was awarded a La Trobe University Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning in 2008 and a Commendation in the Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2007 (Faculty of Science, Technology and Engineering).
• I am also part of the First Year Biology Learning and Teaching Group which was awarded an Australian Learning & Teaching Council Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning in 2010 For a ‘community of practice’ leadership approach to curriculum redesign, leading to an enhanced first year learning experience in biology. Our group was also awarded La Trobe University and Faculty of Science, Technology and Engineering Citations for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning in 2010.

Supervision

• Current students
• Linda Semeraro – PhD student. Systematics of Australian leaf hoppers.
• Dave Brehm – Honours student. Effects of fire on freshwater macroinvertebrate stream communities.

• Past PhD students
• Matthew Jones (2009) Fish movements and the impact of regulators in Barmah-Millewa forest
• Julian Finn (2009) Systematics and biology of the argonauts or ‘paper nautiluses’ (Cephalopoda: Argonautidae)
• Sarah Butler (2008) Developing a monitoring tool for the macroinvertebrates and the soft-sediment environments of Marine National Parks in Western Port, Victoria

Research interests

• My research group studies the ecology of aquatic invertebrates. Marine ecosystems have been our major focus to date, particularly mudflat and mangrove habitats, and this is now being complemented by research into the ecology of freshwater ecosystems. The invertebrate fauna are key components of aquatic ecosystems and can play a significant role in structuring communities. We’re interested in research questions which explore the effects of anthropogenic activities such as harvesting of target species, protection of communities within reserve systems, management of water flow in rivers, as well as natural events like wildfire on macro-invertebrate abundance, diversity and community structure.

Recent publications

• Bird, F.L. (2010). A comparison of the effectiveness of an interactive, online module versus a laboratory based exercise. Proceedings of the 16th UniServe Science Annual Conference, University of Sydney, 29 September to 1 October. Pp. 13-17.
• Yucel R., Bird FL., Blanksby TM., Valenta K., Gendall AR., Plummer, KM., Malone, BS., and Harvey, AS. (2009). A broad based, grass-roots, community of practice achieving curriculum reform in first year biology. Journal of Academic Language & Learning 3 (2), A1-A10.
• Butler, SN, Reid M., & Bird, FL (2009) Population biology of the ghost shrimps, Trypaea australiensis and Biffarius arenosus (Decapoda: Thalassinidea), in Western Port, Victoria. Memoirs of Museum Victoria 66: 43-59
• Butler, SN & Bird, FL (2008) Temporal changes in burrow structure of the thalassinidean ghost shrimps Trypaea australiensis and Biffarius arenosus. Journal of Natural History 42 : 2041-2062.
• Harvey, AS & Bird, FL (2008) Community structure of a rhodolith bed from cold-temperate waters (southern Australia). Australian Journal of Botany 56, 437-450
• Butler, S & Bird, FL (2007) Estimating density of intertidal ghost shrimps using counts of burrow openings. Is the method reliable? Hydrobiologia 589, 303-314.
• Contessa, L & Bird, FL (2004) The effect of bait pumping on ghost shrimp (Trypaea australiensis) populations at Coronet Bay, Western Port. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 304, 75-97.
• Katrak, G & Bird, FL (2003) Comparative effects of the coexisting bioturbators, Trypaea australiensis and Heloecius cordiformis, on intertidal sediments. Marine and Freshwater Research 54, 701-708.
• Stapleton, KL, Long, M, & Bird, FL (2001) Comparative feeding ecology of the ghost shrimps Biffarius arenosus and Trypaea australiensis (Decapoda: Callianassidae). Ophelia 55, 141-150.
• Bird, FL, Boon, PI, & Nichols, PD (2000) Physicochemical and microbial properties of burrows of the deposit-feeding thalassinidean ghost shrimp Biffarius arenosus (Decapoda: Callianassidae) in Western Port, Victoria, Australia. Estuarine and Coastal Shelf Science 51, 279-291
• Bird, FL, & Poore, GCB (1999) Functional burrow morphology of Biffarius arenosus (Decapoda: Callianassidae) from southern Australia. Marine Biology 134, 77-87.
• Bird, FL, Ford, PW, & Hancock, GJ (1999) The effect of burrowing macrobenthos on the diffusive flux of dissolved substances across the water-sediment interface. Marine and Freshwater Research 50, 523-532
• Bird, FL & Jenkins, GP (1999)  Abundance, biomass and estimated production of invertebrate fauna associated with seagrass, Heterozostera tasmanica in Swan Bay and an adjacent area of Port Phillip Bay. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 111, 1-13.
• Boon, PI, Bird, FL, & Bunn, S (1997) Organic carbon sources used by intertidal callianassid shrimps in Western Port (southern Australia), determined with multiple stable isotope analyses. Marine and Freshwater Research 48, 503-11.